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ASEAN - establishment, development and perspectives of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
Chaloupková, Jana ; Veselý, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Krines, Vlastimil (referee) ; Had, Miloslav (referee) ; Gombár, Eduard (referee)
The presented study is an analysis of the regional integration process of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN utilizing theories of international relations and integration. The dissertation studies the factors which contributed to its formation, evolution and transformation and the perspectives of its further development. ASEAN was established by virtue of Bangkok Declaration signed on August 8, 1967 among Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Subsequently Brunei joined the Association in 1984, Vietnam 1995, Laos and Myanmar 1997 and Cambodia 1999. ASEAN's formation falls within the process of creating of regional organizations after World War II, a period of the biggest development of the institutionalization of the international cooperation. Association was based on relatively free and voluntary cooperation and political declarations. With the end of Cold War and bipolarity, with the defeat of communism and the advent of political and economic reforms in the former socialist bloc ASEAN institutionally strengthened and transformed itself, expanded its membership and the decision to form ASEAN Free Trade Area AFTA in 1992 and the Treaty on the Common Effective Preferential Tariffs shifted Association from the stage of cooperation to integration. ASEAN becomes an international organization (based on international legal agreement with the objectives, principles, internal structure etc.) through the adoption of the Charter in 2008. The Charter is the symbol of the transition process from voluntary cooperation based on political declarations to creation of an intergovernmental organization with international legal personality and legal contractual basis for community building, to strengthen the norms and principles. ASEAN has functioned over 40 years based on personal, very frequent and regular contacts between the key elites (who have significantly contributed to its creation and development), as a grouping of common practice and an emerging common identity. It is a form of intergovernmental cooperation, where member states have exclusive position in the decision process; there are no supranational institutions that would have exclusive powers. ASEAN is the initiator of the development of regionalism in Asia, a considerable number of international structures, inter-and trans-regional contacts, forums and programs. Its activities after the Cold War fall into the framework of the new regionalism The thesis tries to point out possible perspectives for its future path, especially in connection to recently born special cooperation ASEAN+3 (China, Republic of Korea, Japan) and plans for building of East Asian Community (ASEAN+3, Australia, New Zealand, India) and its Free Trade Area. Basic characteristics of ASEAN integration process: it takes place in Southeast Asia, it is a process and a state, it consists of economic, political, security, social and cultural part, the emphasis is on economic affairs, its origin is in the postwar period, the main actors are the states and their elites (from the 90's NGO's, think-tanks and civil society become active creating a broad network of socio-cultural relations and interactions), integration expands by the process of ASEAN +3 and EAS, there is a spillover effect within and outside ASEAN, integration process is gradually evolving from a lower to a higher level. Carried out research has its limitations, since it is impossible to generalize the results and formulate a clear assessment of the large international complex, the information is always limited and the social process is miscellaneous. Well-known is the fact that political elites do not act according to the theories, which they often do not know, but based on their own understanding of reality and interests of individual states, eventually groups of countries. No theory is able to explain fully the evolution of ASEAN, failing to capture reality in its full extent, and thus the prospects for the future are some speculations. From the theoretical examination of ASEAN I elect neofuncionalism, since ASEAN represents a process of empowerment, where elites play a crucial role; they share many values and objectives and contribute to the integration process. The rise of transactions in the regional grouping (trade, communication, exchange of ideas), gradually creates a sense of common identity, elites have closer contacts and their values are complementary. Southeast Asia should occupy an important place in the Czech Republic's foreign policy, taking advantage of traditional contacts with the region. Priority should be given to economic ties and active political involvement in the multilateral framework of ASEM, an important part of political dialogue should be question of human rights.
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